THE saying “two heads are better than one” encourages individuals to work together to be more productive, creative and motivated as a team.
In higher learning institutions, students need to work in groups, be it writing a comprehensive paper, completing a project or making an oral presentation.
The ability to work together and accomplish a shared, common goal is known as “collaboration”, which is one of the four Cs in 21st century learning. The other Cs are critical thinking, creativity and communication.
“Qualities like teamwork and synergy are best fostered at university,” said Taylor’s University Bachelor of Psychology stream coordinator and lecturer, Pang Chia Yee.
Group tasks are incorporated into most courses and subjects, and are a part of a student’s assessment.
“Group task does not necessarily apply to big projects and graded assignments but it can be carried out in a topic discussion of a subject. Group assignments usually carry 10 to 30 per cent of the overall marks.
“Failure to cooperate and being participative in group tasks can affect a student’s final grade,” she added.
PURPOSE
Instructors and lecturers use collaboration to enhance students’ learning potential, allowing them to take responsibility for group assignments with little supervision. Properly structured group projects encourage students to become active rather than passive learners.
Sunway College Foundation in Science and Technology lecturer Liew Jia Shi said most subjects in a semester require at least one group project.
“Working in groups provides an opportunity for students to engage in different modes of learning, shifting from individual learning to learning in a group via effective discussions.
Pang added: “Group tasks hone higher order thinking skills, so that students can apply the skills and knowledge learnt to come up with ideas,”.
By working in a group, students tackle more complex problems than they can on their own.
“For some projects or assignments, one individual will not be able to complete the task in the given time. Hence, group assignments work better in such scenarios.
“Students who are a bit reserved may hesitate to voice their opinions in a lecture but given the opportunity to work in smaller groups, they are more comfortable in participating,” she said.
ADVANTAGES
Sunway Foundation in Science and Technology student Emily Jean Legada, 18, said that she prefers to work in a group rather than handle individual tasks.
“From simple discussions to graded assignments, working in collaboration promotes healthy peer pressure.
“A group project requires everyone to finish their tasks by a certain time and up to a particular standard. This motivates group members to complete tasks on time as well as put in more effort, increasing the overall quality of work.
“Besides, it gives classmates the opportunity to interact with each other outside class,” she said.
Taylor’s Business School final year student, Poh Song Yang, 22, believes that working in a group setting provides a chance to build greater rapport with peers.
“Often, there is a tendency for university students to group with friends that they are comfortable with. I find working with different groups of people empowers me to learn more.
“I benefit from diverse perspectives and knowledge while building new friendships,” he said.
Taylor’s University third year Psychology student Nabilah Hilsya Hashim, 21, said: “When done correctly, group assignments help ease the burden as the tasks are usually delegated among the group members.”
Liew added that working collectively with others fosters effective communication.
“Communication is an important skill which students can develop while working closely with others. We live in close proximity with one another because we are social beings dependent on each other.
“Failure in communication means losing the ability to work with each other. In a group assignment, how can you effectively share ideas with everyone? If there is an argument or conflict, how will you address and solve it effectively? These are just some examples which require good communication skills.
“Good communication skills help ensure that your collaboration experience is a positive and productive one.”
SOCIAL LOAFING
While collaborative learning through group projects has the potential to produce better results, some students find working effectively with others an extremely challenging endeavour when social loafing occurs.
Social loafing happens where students do not pull the same weight in contributing to the group yet receive the same grade as others, said Pang.
“The experience can be dreadful when there are social loafers in a group. However, it challenges students to take charge and work out a solution,” she added.
Being in his final year of studies, Poh has had his share of dealing with social loafers which he calls “free-riders”.
“Often times, unequal participation among team members occurs. When this happens, you have to contribute more and spend more time to cover for the free-riders.
“This behaviour can make group work an unpleasant experience for some. Other team members will be left feeling frustrated receiving the same mark as their fellow non-contributing group members despite producing much of the group work.
“In extreme cases where a member is neither responding nor completing the work, I submit a peer evaluation form to the tutor indicating that he/she has not contributed to the group work.
“This results in either lower marks or complete omission of the individual from the group, depending on the tutor’s review.
“When group work does not work out well, it can lead to resentment between group members, thus potentially jeopardise friendship between members. Also, group performance is usually assessed collectively in which case, my marks can be affected as well,” he said.
Nabilah Hilsya said she can be dominant in a group arrangement due to her outgoing nature when she faces an issue of having to deal with passive group mates.
“Some members are of no help when it comes to brainstorming and problem-solving.
“They tend to rely on the dominant members to do the decision-making which can be frustrating as it creates an unbalanced dynamic in the group’s productivity. When this happens, I will help by being active when it comes to encouraging discussions.
“This will avoid negative outcomes such as low productivity, feeling of dissatisfaction with other group members and lost friendships,” she added.
To avoid social loafing, Pang prepares at least two parts of group assignments — individual and group review.
“At the end of a project, I prepare a peer evaluation form for the students to grade their own group members. There are marks allocated for categories like teamwork and commitment.
“If they feel like one group member has been slacking off, they can collectively give a lower mark for that particular person.”
VITAL AT THE WORKPLACE
Group projects can help students develop a host of skills that are increasingly important in the professional world.
In the future, there will be a time when working in a group will not only be helpful but also vital. Therefore, collaboration skills should be honed while in college, said Liew.
“One of the key characteristics that employers seek in hires is the ability to work as a team.
“Day-to-day operations to the development of new projects cannot be accomplished without strong collaborations between employees, be it within a department or a joint effort across various departments in an organisation.
“It is important for the students to learn that everyone has their own way of doing something. They have different personalities and personal preferences that we need to respect.
“Through the process of group tasks, students discover their strengths and weaknesses as well as their peers. Learning to address one’s weaknesses, acknowledging others’ strengths while accepting others’ imperfections are the skills that students can gain from collaborating with others,” he said.
Pang prefers to randomly assign students into groups because it challenges them to work with others whom they are not close to.
“Although some students prefer to be in a group of their cliques, working with other students will push them to adapt to a new working dynamic. When students enter the industry, they do not get to choose their colleagues,” she said.
For Nabilah Hilsya, working in groups helps her to hone communication skills in various aspects especially in negotiation, persuasion and compromise which are essential skills in the workplace.
“In the workplace, we are most likely to work with individuals of diverse backgrounds with their own sets of experiences, ideologies, work ethics and personalities.
“Collaboration in such an environment can help enrich the working experience much more as I am able to learn new things along the way. Being a team player is relevant to mould not only an individual but also a high-performing employee,” she said.
TOOLS
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”, therefore a proper planning process determines the success of a group project, said Liew.
In planning a group project and keeping it on track, there a few collaboration tools that students opt for.
“Google online collaboration tools are especially useful to monitor an assignment,” Emily said.
“Google Docs allow team members to view, edit and work simultaneously on a document without emailing attachments to each other. It permits those with access to update and make changes to documents.
“On a less formal note, WhatsApp group chats and calls are where most of the discussions happen. It is also the platform used by team leaders to check on team members without being physically present at a group discussion.”
Poh also utilises Google Calendar to set group meetings and deadlines.
“I also prefer Telegram as the main communication tool for a group task as we can pin important messages for everyone’s reference and create quick polls in the group chat.
“I also use Trello which is a to-do list app to organise a task and keep team members’ progress in check.”